‘He’s a dog’: Is pitcher Cole Ragans developing into the next Kansas City Royals ace?
Cole Ragans hasn’t spent a lot of time with the Kansas City Royals. He was acquired two months ago from the Rangers in the trade that sent pitcher Aroldis Chapman to Texas.
But Ragans has already transformed the Royals’ pitching staff. The talented southpaw has seized his opportunity and given the club something it hasn’t had in a long time.
A bonafide ace.
“He’s just a dog,” Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “He just goes out there with the mentality every pitcher should have: that’s coming at you and attacking you.”
Ragans helped the Royals snap a four-game losing streak Wednesday. He tossed six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium.
Ragans recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts as the Royals won 4-0. He threw 99 pitches, registering 18 whiffs and 12 called strikes to earn his fifth victory of the season.
One memorable highlight: Ragans touched 101 mph facing A’s catcher Shea Langeliers in the fifth inning.
“It’s really impressive,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “A couple little soft contact (hits) here and there. The one ball hit him on the foot, but (he) was in total control the whole day.”
The A’s were impressed as well. Ragans marched through the Oakland lineup with ease. He surrendered two hits — to Jonah Bride and Nick Allen. At one point, Ragans struck out five consecutive batters.
“That was probably one of the best performances we’ve seen all season on the mound,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “We’ve seen Ragans before. The (velocity), it definitely spiked. He was 98 to 100 (mph) today. … You face that type of stuff and it’s a tough day.”
Ragans continues to exceed expectations. The increased fastball velocity has generated headlines, but it’s his slider that has elevated his performance.
Ragans worked to refine the movement of his slider at Triple-A Omaha. He found a pitching grip that felt comfortable and started to throw it consistently. While his fastball is averaging 96.2 mph this season, the slider averaged 89.5 mph against the A’s.
“I feel like the slider has been a really big equalizer to both righties and lefties,” Ragans said. “I’m getting the swing-and-miss with it. I feel like that kind of has helped me.”
Kotsay lamented the fact that the A’s failed to get good swings against Ragans. He credited the KC pitcher for being able to mix up his fastball, changeup and slider effectively.
“Offensively, we ran into a really good starter today,” Kotsay said. “You see why that trade was made. They picked up a really good arm.”
Ragans has posted a 2.12 ERA in August. He has recorded 44 strikeouts against eight walks in five starts. He is the third Royals pitcher to reach those numbers in a calendar month, joining current teammate Zack Greinke (who has done it twice) and former Royal James Shields.
The Royals have two series left this month. KC will face the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in a series that begins Friday before returning to Kansas City to play host to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Kauffman Stadium.
So Ragans has a chance to build on those gaudy August numbers. His next scheduled start would come against the Pirates.
“I leave it all out there,” Ragans said. “I try to get as deep as I can in the game.”
